Wayne Rooney wants to succeed the retired Steven Gerrard and Joe Hart and Gary Cahill are the only other realistic candidates for the armband

Headscratcher: Hodgson is planning for the Euro 2016 qualifiers - and a new skipper

Roy Hodgson will begin his World Cup finals post-mortem this week – and his first job is to pick a new skipper.

England boss Hodgson is due back at the Football Association's Wembley headquarters on Friday after his post-Brazil break and a meeting with his coaching staff has already been pencilled in.

Despite the public support from FA chairman Greg Dyke after the Three Lions' World Cup flop and embarrassing slump to 20th in the FIFA rankings, Hodgson is under pressure to get things right with the opening 2016 European Championship qualifier away to Switzerland less than six weeks away.

Dyke has asked the England boss to contribute to the post-tournament review that will assess every aspect of the Three Lions’ preparations and performance.

Rooney wants the job, and should he be overlooked Joe Hart and Gary Cahill are the other realistic candidates.

Former England skipper Rio Ferdinand, who made 36 of his 81 appearances alongside his ex-Old Trafford team-mate, believes it is the time for Rooney to get the nod.

Rooney has already worn the armband twice, the last time against San Marino in October 2012 and Ferdinand said: “If you look at other countries, the natural progression would be Wayne getting it now.

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“With other countries it’s usually the guy with the most caps, or who is most influential in the team and I think Wayne is the most influential player that England have got at the moment, now Steven Gerrard has gone.

“So it would seem like a natural progression if you was looking at it from that mindset.

“Joe Hart is another one and I think you have to look at who is going to start. But I think Wayne has grown, he is growing into that role.

“He’s experienced now, he has played at the top level, he’s won a lot of things. He knows the game. He’s got the right tools for that.”

Ferdinand who skippered England on seven occasions, added: “At the same time, especially in England we maybe go a bit overboard on the whole captaincy thing.

“You need as many leaders out on the pitch as you can get. You need people to lead by example, not just on the pitch but off the pitch. Hopefully we have got a few in there that can do that.”